Nothing I Won't Give
by Nerd of Camelot
Summary: A peek into Sonic and Shadow's life as a couple. Domestic fluff galore. Rated for language and later chapters.
1. tender

"You're adorable."

"No I'm fucking not."

"Yeah you fucking are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

" _Yes."_

The two hedgehogs continued to bicker quietly where they lay together in bed, one of them blue, the other black and red. They were wrapped loosely around each other, legs intertwined, hands resting just below their back quills. It was closer contact than the darker hedgehog ever expressed interest in having in the company of anyone else. Closer contact than most would think he'd indulge in _especially_ with his current company.

Red eyes met green, and whatever he was going to say next died in his throat.

The blue hedgehog's lips curved into an amused (and affectionate) smile. He tilted his head a little closer, rubbing his nose against his bedmate's. The darker hedgehog's tan muzzle turned pink, but he reciprocated the affectionate gesture nonetheless.

This was the majority of their relationship - lying together, nuzzling each other, and bickering back and forth. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, considering what they used to do together, although it _was_ worlds more healthy - once upon a time all they'd done was bicker and fight. Their only close contact was when one of their fists was meeting the other's body somehow. Or they were body-slamming each other.

Point was, this was better for them. _Much_ better.

The blue hedgehog leaned closer, pressing his lips to the other's. Their eyes fell closed as they kissed languidly, bickering forgotten for the moment in favor of actually showing each other some affection.

The blue one was the first to pull back, staring at his companion with half-lidded green eyes. The dark one stared back. The blue one smiled again.

"I love you," He murmured, lips barely brushing the other's.

The dark one's muzzle turned even redder, eyes strafing away. He didn't respond verbally, but his hand rubbed circles into his companion's back, pressing just hard enough to alleviate some of the eternal tension in the muscles there. It was the best he could provide, truly, but thankfully the other already knew that.

The blue one's smile didn't falter at all at the lack of response. He knew he was loved. Actions, after all, spoke louder than words, and in spite of the dark one's embarrassment when he expressed affection of any kind, he certainly managed to express it through his actions.

They continued to lie there a while, the blue one smiling affectionately at his boyfriend while he continued to rub circles in his back. As the time passed, the dark one's muzzle slowly returned to its natural color. They brushed noses again.

"Hey, Shads?" The blue one spoke after a while.

Shadow's red eyes slid back to his face, brow ridge rising as he hummed in question.

"D'ya think we'll ever actually tell anyone?"

Shadow, to his surprise, merely chuckled. "Maybe one day, faker."

Sonic rolled his eyes at the nickname, but his smile still didn't falter. "Bet Tails already figured it out."

"Oh, I wouldn't doubt it." Shadow agreed easily, "As much shit as I give the little fox, he _is_ incredibly clever."

Sonic's smile turned into a grin, eyes sparkling with something that was somewhere between amusement and delight. "Do you have any clue how happy he'd be to know you admit he's clever?"

"I've no doubt he'd be positively through the roof," The darker hedgehog sighed, "And he would deserve that happiness."

Sonic hummed his agreement.

They continued to lay there.

Slowly, Sonic's grin faded into a rather peaceful smile as his eyes began to droop closed. Shadow watched him through half-lidded eyes as he began to drop off to sleep. Only once those green eyes had closed completely did Shadow smile a bit, himself, and only after several more minutes of quietly waiting did he lean closer and kiss his boyfriend on the nose. Sonic made a sleepy noise of contentment, but otherwise didn't respond.

Laying his head on top of Sonic's, Shadow murmured, "I love you."

He received no response, but he hadn't been expecting one.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I wrote this partially to sate my apetite for fluffy Sonadow and partially to balance out the unholy amount of smut I've been writing lately. There will be more chapters.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. carry me home

Sonic huffed softly through his nose, pressing his lips very tightly together as he wrapped the injury on his leg. He'd gotten caught by one of Egghead's mechs - dang thing had only grazed him, but his leg had been bleeding heavily ever since.

Thankfully, however, now that he'd cleaned and wrapped it, the blood seemed to be ebbing. And, also thankfully, it wasn't a debilitating wound. Sure, it stung when he tried to run, but he'd take stinging movement over total lack of movement. Besides - since when had he let a little pain stop him? It'd take something a lot worse than a little stinging to get him to willingly hold still.

Now there was the matter, however, of not overworking the leg and letting it heal, which was going to be an issue.

To Sonic's unending annoyance, Eggman was in another of his full-fledged, all out takeover attempts. The plan was about midway to completion, by Tails' estimate. And with that said, it should be obvious that Sonic didn't have the _time_ to let himself heal. He'd just have to hope he didn't do anything to rip his leg open further or tear any of the barely-spared muscles beneath it.

And, that in mind, there was _also_ the issue of keeping Shadow from noticing he was injured until they'd stopped Eggman.

If _anyone_ was capable of physically _forcing_ Sonic to rest, it was Shadow. And the _last_ thing Sonic needed right now was his boyfriend mother henning him over a wounded leg. The world was more important, thanks. Sonic would live through being injured. The world likely wouldn't live through being under Eggman's control again - not after the whole Infinite debacle of a few months ago.

Sonic had to give Eggman some credit, though - this was one of the fastest follow-up plans he'd ever pulled. Less than five months after his last defeat he was already ploughing through a new plan. That took dedication. Took even more dedication for him to have come back from what Sonic, the Rookie, and the other Sonic had done to his mech.

But Sonic only had so much appreciation for the guy's unwillingness to give up, because as the years went by he was only more and more exasperated with the human's attempts. Honestly. It was one thing to try to take over a city, or a few of them. It was another to try to take over the _world._ Sonic could honestly probably look the other way if Eggman just nabbed a city and was done with it - they all probably could. But no. The guy had to be a huge megalomaniac.

He shook the thoughts away, rising and testing his leg. Still only stung - good.

Careful so as not to make anything worse, he took off at a light jog toward the meeting place Knuckles had specified. The guy just couldn't shake being the Resistance's Commander - not that Sonic had a problem with that. Better to let someone else make the rules for everybody. At least Knuckles could organize things, especially now that he had Tails at his side.

He entered the secluded little clearing and glanced briefly around. His eyes fell first upon his Resistance buddy, the Rookie he'd come to know as Wither - a lavender wolf with sharp blue eyes and an obvious preference for his Lightning Wispon if the fact that he _still_ had it was anything to go by. Right now his bandana, which was purple and featured a large mouth full of sharp teeth, was around his neck instead of over his muzzle for once. He seemed to be tinkering with his Wispon - odd, as Sonic didn't know Wither to have any technical prowess.

Throwing another glance around and seeing _everyone_ was busy, Sonic decided to bother his buddy.

"Hey, Wither." He greeted as he approached.

Wither's eyes snapped to his face, and a fangy grin bloomed on his own. "Sonic, hey!"

"Whatcha doin'?" He plopped down next to him on the ground.

Wither obligingly repositioned himself to make more room. "Adding something to this old hunk of junk," He chuckled, "Another cool addition to make it work better." His eyes flicked to Sonic's leg. "You good?"

"I'm fine - barely even hurts." Sonic assured him, "What's the new addition?"

And Wither happily explained to him what the latest addition to his Wispon did, as usual referring to the Wispon itself as a hunk of junk - although he seemed to use the term affectionately. Sonic smiled and listened intently. Wither tended to remind him of Tails when he was talking about the Wispon, and of Shadow the rest of the time. The wolf was quiet, kept mostly to himself, and, tellingly, could actually keep up with Sonic most of the time, albeit with some effort.

Sooner or later, however, Sonic was called over to join the huddle Knuckles, Amy, and Tails were occupying. He made a show of groaning and heaving himself to his feet, making Wither muffle a laugh as he returned to tinkering.

"Yeah?"

The huddle was, of course, _inconceivably boring._ Just some planning crap that he didn't really have the patience for and was glad that Tails and Knuckles were handling. The interesting part was that Knuckles and Amy had noticed that he and Shadow had been getting along better recently and wanted them to team up for the next assault on Eggman's forces. If they were getting along better, then they'd work together better. And if they were working well together, there was very little that they couldn't do - a sentiment that Sonic wholeheartedly agreed with.

"I'll handle telling him, I guess," Sonic offered, though part of him dreaded seeing Shadow when he was injured.

He'd have to play some serious hardball to convince Shadow he was fine and didn't need to take a break to let it heal, especially since he'd be lying just the slightest bit, which he couldn't _stand_ doing in the first place, let alone to Shadow. Not to mention, he was _horrid_ at lying to people he cared about. The only thing that would make it easier was that it was a) necessary, and b) not something that could be easily disproven. Even if he hurt himself worse in the process of the mission and had to take a break after that, there was no way Shadow could ever prove he'd been hurt bad enough to need a break _beforehand._

"Awesome, thanks," Knuckles said, then, "Wither!"

Sonic took that as his cue to get going, and prepared to do so.

"Sonic," Tails' voice caught him off guard as he started to walk away, "You sure you're good to go on a hurt leg?"

He glanced at his leg, then at Tails, giving him a thumbs up. "I'll be fine. I've gone through with missions in worse states."

Tails took him at his word and merely nodded. Knuckles eyed the bandages, which were beginning to turn red, but ultimately decided not to push it. Only Amy seemed like she wanted to argue - thankfully she didn't end up having the time. Knuckles launched right into briefing Wither for his own mission, which required Amy's full attention.

Sonic booked it before she could get another chance to try.

"Hey, Shads," He stopped when he was far enough away, speaking into his communicator, "Knux has a mission for us."

" _He included me in his plans? Interesting."_ Came Shadow's mildly amused response.

"I know, right?" Sonic said with mock-surprise, "It's like he thinks you're currently on our side or something."

The sound of Shadow actually laughing was a welcome one. " _What's the job?"_

Sonic told him.

" _Alright. I'll meet you there in 10."_

"You got it." Casting a wary glance around and finding there was no one in the immediate proximity, he said, "Hey, Shads?"

" _Yes, Sonic?"_

"I love you."

Shadow didn't reply, but Sonic already knew he wouldn't. And he could just imagine the way Shadow's muzzle probably turned a little pink at the admission, like it usually did. It was kind of amazing how much he'd learned about Shadow's reactions in just the single month they'd been together, honestly. But, then again, Shadow was predictable when it came to emotions and responses to emotions.

Sonic set off as fast as he could currently move, arriving at the designated area three minutes before Shadow was supposed to arrive. He took the opportunity to check his bandaged leg to be sure it wasn't going to soak through the bandages entirely.

It seemed fine - the line of red wasn't _visibly_ thickening yet, but it was possible that it would if he had to move any faster than he had coming here. Still. It wasn't bad enough to warrant changing the bandages just yet. Thankfully. He didn't have the kind of supplies to be changing his bandages every thirty minutes.

Shadow's arrival had Sonic standing up from where he'd plopped onto a rather convenient crate and approaching. The area was clear, so affection would be okay once Shadow realized that. He just had to wait for the Ultimate Lifeform to do his personal check to be sure.

He did, and when he noticed Sonic waiting with an uncharacteristic amount of patience for his permission, a very small smile tugged at his lips. He nodded, opening his arms a bit, and Sonic surged forward to hug him immediately. Nuzzling affectionately at Shadow's cheek, he closed his eyes and nearly melted when Shadow first returned his embrace, and then the nuzzling.

They stood there quietly for a moment, finally separating when Shadow decided they probably ought to get to the mission.

Sonic was prepared to do so when Shadow grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"When were you going to mention you're injured, exactly?" He asked, clearly unimpressed.

"I… Wasn't going to?" Sonic admitted sheepishly, "It's nothing serious, I didn't think I needed to say anything."

"Sonic," Shadow sighed, clearly exasperated.

"I'm fine!" Sonic insisted, "It's just a cut - it'll heal. Promise."

"Fine." The dark hedgehog relented with surprising swiftness, putting his hands up in surrender, "But if it slows you down at all I'm doing the rest of the mission by myself and making you stay here."

Sonic grumbled under his breath, but didn't argue for the sake of not getting into a fight with his boyfriend over this.

They set off. For the most part Sonic was unhindered by his injury, although jumping up for homing attacks caused a pain bordering on excruciating. He didn't let it show, of course, just powered through. He could do this.

Soon enough, they'd knocked out the majority of the section of Eggman's army that they'd been sent to dispatch. They were running the home stretch, and Sonic was more than ready to get it over with. The sooner it was over the sooner he could change his bandages, badger Knuckles to come up with a plan to end this within the next couple of days, and then take a rest. He already knew he'd be doing a lot of laying around tonight - here was to hoping that if Shadow stuck around for the night he wouldn't question the behavior too much.

But Sonic really shouldn't have counted his chickens before they hatched.

While they were dealing with one of the last handful of robots, he jumped for a homing attack and felt, very clearly, something tear in his leg. He didn't let it stop him, curling up and smashing through the bot, but the moment he'd landed his leg buckled under him. He cursed heavily under his breath, soft enough Shadow wouldn't hear him and be able to make note of how foul-mouthed he could be, and tried to get back on his feet as Shadow took out the last two robots with a Chaos Spear.

He managed, if only barely, and bit down on the inside of his cheek as he checked his leg. There was blood soaking very quickly through the bandages now, and with luck the tearing he'd felt was only the skin. He could handle that. He couldn't afford to have torn muscles, however.

"Sonic?" Shadow approached, eye ridge raised, "Are you…?"

Sonic managed to let out a puff of air. "I'm good. Think I'm gonna need stitches, though."

"What happened?" There was a note of panic in Shadow's voice, barely there but starting to fester.

"Not sure. With luck, I only ripped some skin on that last homing attack." Sonic took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and straightened up. "I'll be fine, Shads, don't blow a circuit. Let's just…" He stopped, and before he even thought to just _warn_ Shadow of the robot sneaking up behind him, a robot they'd somehow missed, he was bolting past him.

Heedless of his injury he hit the robot at about a quarter of his max speed, knocking its legs out from under it. He didn't manage to get to his feet when he hit the ground and rolled, although he usually rolled right onto his feet at the end of a spin dash. This time he hit, he rolled, and he promptly flopped onto his back, trying to draw in a breath past the flare of pain in his leg.

"Bad idea," He hissed out, " _Bad_ idea."

"No shit." Came Shadow's firm and annoyed, though still slightly panicked, voice. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't." Sonic admitted, rather than lying. "Past the initial, 'Crap, that thing's going for Shadow,' I didn't think anything at all." His voice came out rough as he clenched his teeth, hoping against hope that this wasn't going to lead to an argument.

Shadow was quiet, but Sonic could still hear him approaching slowly.

"Can you stand?" His voice sounded… Much gentler this time.

"I dunno yet." Sonic sighed, biting back a curse when trying to move shot a spike of pain from his ankle all the way up to his hip. "Gimme a minute."

Shadow didn't move.

Sonic drew in a deep breath, as deep as he could, then let it out as he, through sheer force of will, managed to haul himself to his feet despite the pain. He closed his eyes and, with another deep breath, set about isolating the pain to his leg. It wasn't easy.

Shadow's hand gently touching his shoulder both made him open his eyes and brought attention to the fact that he was shaking. He tried for a smile as he forced the trembling to stop. Shadow didn't seem convinced by the attempt. Sonic didn't really blame him.

He wouldn't have been convinced either.

"Let's report back to Knuckles," Shadow said, "And then get you home."

Sonic nodded his agreement, and before he could ask how they'd get back without making his leg worse, Shadow was pulling out a Chaos Emerald. Sonic shut his mouth immediately. Shadow… Didn't seem to notice.

Probably for the best.

Sonic wasn't sure how much he wanted Shadow to notice him right now. Honestly he'd like it if Shadow ignored him completely until they were alone. And then he'd like to be held for a while, if at all possible, although Shadow was probably too angry at his stupidity to want to hold him. The likelihood of him doing much more than dropping Sonic off at his house and then leaving was incredibly low right now.

… That hurt Sonic on a level he didn't even realize he could experience, but… But, well, he knew it was his own fault. He'd have to work to get Shadow to want to be around him again.

Oh, well. He'd done it before. He could do it again.

Didn't mean he wanted to, though.

When Shadow used Chaos Control, Sonic shifted to hide the red side of his bandages from whoever might be in front of him. He stayed where he was as Shadow moved forward to talk to Knuckles. He zoned out of the conversation in a combination of boredom and general fuzzy-mindedness. He wasn't sure how long, exactly, he checked out for, but he also wasn't too terribly worried about it.

The next thing he was aware of was Shadow grabbing him by the bicep again, and Knuckles' voice asking, "What are you doing?"

"Taking him home." Shadow's voice answered.

"Is he going to be alright?" Tails. Clearly concerned.

"He'll be fine. The stubborn idiot merely needs to allow himself time to heal instead of running headfirst into missions."

A general mumble of agreement.

They were in Sonic's house. He shook away the fuzziness in his head and made to stumble to his couch, but his leg buckled almost immediately. If not for Shadow still being next to him, he'd have probably landed on his face and not bothered to get back up. As it was, Shadow caught him before he fell too far and hauled him back to his feet. With a huff of what sounded like annoyance, the black hedgehog slung the blue one's arm over his shoulders, wrapped his own around the other's waist, and helped him to the couch. Sonic didn't make a sound the whole way there, despite wanting very much to ask that Shadow stay. That Shadow just give him another chance.

Part of him knew he was being ridiculous and that Shadow wasn't going to dump him over getting himself hurt, but he couldn't help thinking it. The pain was making his brain fuzzy and… _Stupid._

Upon being lowered onto the cushions of the couch, he couldn't stop his mouth from opening.

"Don't leave," It came out softer than intended, more desperate than he wanted it to sound. "Please?"

"I wasn't going to." Shadow informed him somewhat flatly.

He flinched at the tone, then nodded and sagged against the back of the couch. Shadow made a noise that was somewhere between exasperated and sympathetic. It only made Sonic sag further, knowing that this was likely the last thing that Shadow wanted to be wasting his time doing. He wanted to tell Shadow it was fine, he could leave if he wanted to. He could take care of himself, after all, and he didn't want Shadow's company if Shadow didn't want to be around. But he didn't say anything, he just sat there and stared at his bloody leg.

With a sigh, he heaved himself up and started to unwrap the bandage with slightly shaking hands. Notably, Shadow didn't attempt to help him despite still being less than three feet away. Sonic understood. Babysitting him and making sure he got home and stayed there was one thing. Actually taking care of him was another.

When he'd removed the bloodsoaked bandages he grimaced and wondered where to put them until he could throw them out. Quite suddenly, a gloved hand was offering him a small waste basket he usually kept nearer the front door. He mumbled a thanks and discarded the bandages. He rummaged around in the bag he kept next to the couch until he found his makeshift first aid kit. Pulling a bottle of whiskey and a rag from the kit, he uncapped the bottle under Shadow's watchful eye and poured out a little onto a section of the rag.

He clenched his jaw in preparation of the burn and, even though he'd already cleaned it, wiped down the wound once more with the whiskey rag. It'd work better than the weak alcohol wipes he typically had with him on a mission. Best way to make sure it didn't get infected, too.

He could feel Shadow staring him down as he continued to tend to the wound, patting it dry with a towel that had seen better days and already had several bloodstains. Once it was clean and dry he hunched to examine the wound better. He'd managed to tear into the muscle _just_ a little, but it still wasn't too incredibly serious, thank Chaos. He'd definitely need those stitches, though.

He was pretty sure he still had a needle and thread in his kit, although he'd need to soak the hell out of them with whiskey to make sure they were sterile…

Before he could do so, Shadow was kneeling before him with what appeared to be an _actual_ suturing needle. Sonic chose not to question why he had it or where he got it from. It was probably G.U.N.-supplied, anyway.

"Will you need any kind of painkiller or numbing agent?" Shadow asked.

"Do you have any?" Sonic quirked a brow ridge. "Because I can manage without, but…"

"I have this," Shadow briefly set aside the suturing needle on the coffee table, showing Sonic a syringe of nearly clear liquid.

Sonic recognized it, though only vaguely, as the type of numbing agent he'd get at the hospital if he actually went for this sort of thing. He eyed it somewhat suspiciously, but didn't object to its use outright. He trusted Shadow. He didn't so much trust the hospital or their use of numbing agents. What if it wasn't _just_ for numbing him?

"Not scared of needles, are you, faker?"

"Of course not." Sonic replied, "If you're willing to use it I'm not going to complain."

"I rarely need to numb myself." Shadow said somewhat flippantly.

Very pointedly, Sonic squeezed his eyes shut when Shadow lined the needle up to give the injection. He wasn't afraid of needles, but he did _not_ like watching himself get shots. It was just a matter of preferring not to see objects that weren't supposed to naturally enter his body, you know, _enter his body._ And with that said it should be pretty obvious that he couldn't _stand_ giving himself stitches.

He was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the numbing agent began to work, he had to admit, because within less than a minute almost his entire lower leg began to feel like it wasn't attached to his body. It felt like there wasn't anything below his knee, although he knew very well there was a calf there. Under any other circumstances the sensation may have amused him.

As it was?

It unsettled him, and against his better judgement he opened his eyes to watch as Shadow set about stitching him up. Not being able to feel it definitely did something for his usual distaste for foreign objects piercing his flesh. Maybe lessened it just the slightest bit.

About midway through stitching his leg, Shadow's red eyes flicked up to his face. His expression was unreadable and… Well, Sonic guessed it was probably better that way. If he couldn't tell what Shadow was feeling then maybe he could trick himself into thinking Shadow wasn't potentially livid at him for getting himself hurt. He could make himself think, instead, that Shadow just wasn't sure what to think about the situation.

Shadow's eyes returned to his leg without either of them saying anything at all, and Sonic's stomach twisted with unease. He still didn't so much as open his mouth, though. There was little point in trying to talk right now, especially considering it was just as likely as not that it would lead to an argument. He didn't want to argue with Shadow right now. He just wanted things to be normal - which involved just a little arguing, but never anything serious like this. Just casual bickering that wouldn't have an effect on their relationship past establishing what would turn into a serious argument and what wouldn't.

Like calling Shadow cute - that didn't result in a serious argument, surprisingly enough. It just resulted in both of them going back and forth about it for as long as they could deal with going back and forth about it. Shadow calling him cute resulted in much the same result.

He spaced out for the rest of the time that Shadow spent stitching his leg, but retained enough presence of mind to hand him the whiskey rag when he held out his hand for it. He watched him wipe it down, traded him the rag for the towel, and then very quietly handed him the bandages once he'd set the towel aside.

"You're much better prepared for these sorts of things than I would have expected," Shadow admitted softly as he wrapped his leg.

"I have to be." Sonic replied, "I don't trust hospitals, so I have to do this sorta thing myself."

"You don't trust hospitals." There was a somewhat incredulous tone there.

"Would you when most hospital equipment reminds you of one of Eggman's improvised devices and you don't know for sure that he's not somehow around?" Sonic sighed, "Cuz that's the main reason I don't."

"I'd say your paranoia is misplaced, but…" Shadow's brow ridges scrunched up, "You've known the doctor longer than I have. I suppose you'd know better what sorts of plans he'd get up to when he's desperate."

"Oh, no, it's misplaced. It's misplaced as hell." Sonic assured him, "Because Eggman's willing to do some dirty stuff to get at me but trying to kill me in a hospital when I'm already injured is a little too low for him. Or at least it was _before_ the time he managed to take over the world."

"I heard he tortured you for six months." The darker hedgehog mentioned after a brief silence.

"If you can count making me watch him build his empire through a screen for the majority of my time there and having me fight robots for hours on end every day as torture, sure." Sonic shrugged, "Mainly it was just annoying. The worst part was the total isolation from everyone but Zavok and the bots." A pause, "And considering Zavok was an illusion…"

Shadow hummed, at last finishing up with the bandaging. There was a silence, and then he sighed, looking up to meet Sonic's eyes. "Blue, I… Look. I appreciate that your first thought was to protect me. I do." By his voice alone, Sonic could tell he was having trouble saying this, "But I don't need to be protected. You could have been killed or permanently destroyed your leg by doing what you did today."

"You think I don't know that?" Sonic didn't _want_ to sound annoyed, but he knew he came off as just a little irritated. "I know the risks of doing what I do."

"I know." Shadow huffed, sounding a little annoyed himself, "I'm not trying to imply that you don't. I just…" He trailed for a long moment, "I just don't want you hurt."

Sonic, for a moment, was silent. In the face of that admission, he wasn't sure what to say. That was a lot, coming from Shadow, although it may not seem like much. Him admitting that he simply didn't want Sonic hurt showed a level of care that Shadow showed for very little else. Sonic realized that that put him in a very high position in Shadow's eyes, making him of equal, if not _greater_ importance to Shadow as Rouge and Omega.

And knowing Shadow actually thought so highly of him was a feeling that bordered on heartbreak - though it was more positive, it was no less painful.

He bit down on the inside of his lip to prevent himself from crying. "Shads, I…" He gave up trying to appear strong and simply slid off the couch, onto the floor in front of Shadow, who averted his gaze. "Come here." Sonic said, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in his shoulder.

Shadow didn't reply verbally, as usual, but he did lift his arms to return the embrace.

"I love you," Sonic mumbled into his shoulder, "I love you so much. So I don't want you hurt either, but even if you don't need me to protect you, I can't just turn off that instinct."

"I know," Shadow sighed out, tension draining from his body, "But please. For the sake of my sanity: never go on a mission with a wound like this again."

"I'll do what I can," The blue blur assured him, "But I can't make any promises. They need me, and I can't just sit back and relax if they need me, even if I _am_ injured."

The sigh Shadow gave this time sounded like it was bordering on a disbelieving laugh, "How have you survived this long?"

"Simple," Sonic chuckled, "I'm too stubborn to die."

Shadow heaved an obviously fake groan of annoyance and shook his head, and when his muzzle brushed against Sonic's forehead, he could feel that Shadow was smiling. He grinned into his shoulder and hugged him tighter.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this. It received a decent amount of positive feedback just within the first couple of days it was up and that was what inspired me to finish the second chapter.**

 **I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story as it goes on! I'm not sure yet if there will be any discernable linear storyline, but there will definitely be more chapters regardless.**


	3. crush

" _When did you first realize you were in love?"_

Sonic stared at the message, lips pulled into a frown even as he gnawed at the inside of his cheek. He'd been trying to come up with a polite answer to it for two and a half days. Trying to come up with something that was as close to the truth as he could get it without actually telling the truth. He _hated_ lying, but the truth in this matter was _not_ something anyone but himself and Shadow needed to know.

Least of all Tails, who had asked the question.

The truth of the matter was, to Sonic's minute shame, that he'd realized he loved Shadow the first time they'd had sex, which was _months_ before they'd gotten together, and honestly? It was a pretty inappropriate time to be realizing he was in love because that little romp had been about nothing but spite. It had been an attempt on Shadow's part to get him to shut the hell up for a while. To get him to leave him the hell alone.

It hadn't been _rape,_ of course, because Sonic had gone into it totally willingly once he realized it was happening, primarily because it had been a _long_ time since he'd gotten any relief - at least the six months he'd been trapped by Eggman, give or take a couple of years before that. He'd been pent up, and he was admittedly a little pissed off, so, sure, why not?

He'd let Shadow pin him to the nearest wall and they'd gone at it and that had been that for the next couple of months, but they'd kissed at some point during that and at that _exact_ second he'd realized how he felt and then the rest of that romp had felt… Wrong. But he hadn't stopped for the same reasons that he'd willingly started. He was pent up and he was pissed off.

He'd given Shadow space for a couple of months after that, and then up until about three and a half months ago they'd been tiptoeing around each other, until Shadow finally kissed him, invited him to stay the night, and they'd in short order decided, "Hell with it, we're dating now."

He shook his head.

Finally, he typed out, _I realized I was in love the first time we kissed._

Tails was not concerned by how long it had taken him to answer the question - he never was.

Lil' Bro: [12:24 PM] _That's adorable. Have you guys told each other yet or is it too soon for that?_

Sonic internally cursed. Tails was just asking the tough questions lately, wasn't he?

Blue Blur: [12:25 PM] _I tell him all the time._

Lil' Bro: [12:25 PM] _Does he tell you?_

Blue Blur: [12:25 PM] _No._

Taking a deep breath, he wished that Tails wasn't asking these questions right now. He wasn't sure that Tails would understand that there was nothing wrong with Shadow not saying it. So he tacked on:

Blue Blur: [12:25 PM] _He shows me._

There were a few moments without a response of any kind. Sonic began to get just a little concerned about what Tails might be thinking.

Lil' Bro: [12:29 PM] _Oh, so he's nonverbal about it? Or just not comfortable actually saying it yet?_

Lil' Bro: [12:29 PM] _Sorry I'm asking so many questions, it's just been on my mind lately._

Sonic gave a little laugh, half relieved, half amused. Of course Tails had been thinking about love recently - it was nearly February. Valentine's Day was coming up. And Tails was likely going to be spending the day alone once again, which he'd never once minded in the past, but since Sonic would be spending it with _Shadow_ this year instead of hanging out watching movies with Tails…

He might be a little lonely this year. Damn.

Blue Blur: [12:30 PM] _I'm not really sure if he's not comfortable with it yet or not, I just know he never actually says it, but I can still tell, you know? And it's fine, lil guy, I don't mind answering questions. Why's it beenon your mond, though?_

He frowned at the typos, but chose to ignore them for the sake of not clogging the messages with corrections.

Lil' Bro: [12:30 PM] _I may or may not have a crush on someone. May or may not be freaking out about it. Typical teenager stuff._

Sometimes Sonic forgot that Tails was _fourteen_.

Seemed like just yesterday that he was eleven... But, then again, it seemed like just yesterday that _he_ was turning 16, so he could only imagine how Tails felt _being_ fourteen. That must still be kind of jarring for him.

Not that being 19 wasn't jarring for Sonic, he was just saying he could see it feeling kind of weird for Tails.

Or maybe he was the only one who felt weird about Tails being a teenager.

Blue Blur: [12:31 PM] _Oh? Who's the lucky one?_

Lil' Bro: [12:32 PM] _promise me you're not going to tease me about it_

He found his brow ridges lifting at the lack of capitalization or punctuation. This must _really_ be eating Tails.

Blue Blur: [12:32 PM] _Promise, kiddo._

Despite his reassurance, it took several minutes for Tails to say anything else. Again, Sonic found himself somewhat concerned. Was it someone Tails thought he wouldn't approve of? Was Tails afraid he would tease him despite promising not to? It didn't usually take Tails very long to answer a question even if he was freaking out a little bit. This was… Kind of weird.

Lil' Bro: [12:41 PM] _Todd._

Lil' Bro: [12:41 PM] _It's Todd._

Lil' Bro: [12:41 PM] _It's Todd and I am losing my mind about it like I know he likes me and I'm pretty sure that I like him but like I feel bad you know? Cuz I said I wasn't really interested in romance or guys but here I am catching feelings! idk I'm just. CRAP, you know? like how am i supposed to tell him? after spending the entire time we've known each other before now insisting I wasn't interested it just feels wrong and I get the feeling it isn't going to work out because like it's just. i told him i didn't feel that way._

Lil' Bro: [12:42 PM] _Sorry to dump that on you I'm just. Freaking out._

Sonic blinked.

Then blinked a couple more times.

Re-read the string of texts and took note of every place where Tails hadn't used perfect grammar or punctuation, or capitalization. There were more than he usually saw even when Tails was genuinely freaking out over something, so he knew, he _knew_ this was panicking him for real. He was _really_ freaking out.

How many times had he said 'like'?

Tails didn't usually text how he talked―he had a tendency to try and come off as more professional over text than he did when he was speaking.

That string of texts sounded almost jarringly like how Tails would have said it if he was saying it out loud.

Poor kid.

Blue Blur: [12:43 PM] _You're all good kiddo._

Blue Blur: [12:43 PM] _That said you don't HAVE to tell him. You know that, right? Keeping it between the two of us and whoever else you've asked for advice from is fine. Don't freak out too much._

Lil' Bro: [12:44 PM] _believe me bro i'm trying not to. i just. I feel like he should know._

Lil' Bro: [12:44 PM] _I am petrified of telling him and giving it a shot but I WANT to tell him and give it a shot._

Blue Blur: [12:44 PM] _Well by all means go for it! But just take some time to calm down and figure it out, okay? Won't do either of you any good if you don't have your feelings sorted out before you try._

Lil' Bro: [12:45 PM] _Yeah, you're right. Of course you're right. I was thinking I'd invite him over for Valentine's Day? Like as friends like we used to and then just see how comfy I felt trying to broach the subject._

Blue Blur: [12:45 PM] _Good plan!_

Lil' Bro: [12:45 PM] _Thanks. For all of that, actually. I'm gonna leave you alone now but I appreciate you letting me dump that on you._

Blue Blur: [12:45 PM] _:p Anytime!_

Then, slowly he laid his phone down and tried to process what had just happened.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeah so I may have forgotten to mention that I headcanon Sonic was about 17/18 when Sonic Forces happened and therefore Tails was somewhere between 12 to 14. Sonic is 19 as of the beginning of this lil compilation so Tails is 14 going on 15. Age consistency is important!


	4. overwhelm

It was a lot, sometimes.

…

Okay.

Okay, that was a lie.

It was always a lot.

It was just that sometimes it got overwhelming. Sometimes it was too much to handle properly. Sometimes it was just more than he could stand, more than he could make sense of, more than he could _take._ Sometimes it just felt like everything at once and no chance of getting away from it all.

This was… One of those times.

He tucked his face into his knees and tried to breathe, but it was just…

Breathing wasn't going to help _now._

Maybe if he'd sat down and tried to breathe about _two hours ago_ he'd be able to avoid this or at least get through it without absolutely losing his shit. But up until about three minutes ago he'd been busy as hell. Dealing with everything as it came, taking it in stride and just _persisting_ in spite of how much there was. He was needed. He was the strong one, the ace in the hole. They needed him. They needed him to be able to handle everything.

It was a lot.

And today…

Today it was too much.

Eggman's persistence was, again, causing more grief than could even be appreciated. More than he could really even _process._ It was like every time they knocked him down he just came back, over and over. Only five months after Infinite he was back! Two months after that defeat he was back! A week after that. A week after that.

Sonic missed the old days, where he was predictable. Where you always sort of knew when he was going to come back or could at least guess.

Now he had to be on-guard all the time, and he had to comfort everyone _else_ through being on-guard all the time.

He was like the impromptu therapist for his friends.

It was a lot.

With a forced, gasping breath, he steadied himself as much as he could. Even here he couldn't afford to let it get to him much more than this.

Shadow would be home any minute.

He took another breath as deeply as he could, rolled his shoulders, and sat up.

Stretched his legs out.

Wiped his face and scrubbed at his eyes.

Okay.

Okay, he was fine.

He was fine.

And just in time.

There was the distinctive crinkling of what passed for the fabric of reality a few feet away, the flash of light, and the popping in his ears, and then there was Shadow. He looked uncharacteristically exhausted. Sonic could relate―he was always exhausted lately, personally. That Shadow wasn't immune to that was… Hm. Not comforting, really, but it let him know it wasn't a matter of him being in any way weaker than anyone who was handling this better than he was.

"Hey," He greeted him softly, when Shadow had shaken off the remnants of the Chaos Control.

Shadow didn't say anything in reply, just threw him a tired smile and set about meandering around the small kitchen he'd ported into. Probably making tea or coffee.

Sonic took the cue that Shadow didn't really feel like talking, and chose not to take it personally. The guy was tired. He was tired, too. And being quiet? He could do that.

Might freak Shadow out a little if he was too quiet for too long, but whatever.

He watched him from the arm chair he'd placed himself in, green eyes tracking the black hedgehog through his simple motions. It was tea, this time. He wanted to sleep after this, then―he made tea after an outing when he wanted to rest, coffee when he didn't feel like it yet. Neither had a particular affect on him, but it was a ritual he went through every time anyway.

Really, Sonic thought it was kind of neat.

Eventually, Shadow trailed silently into the living room where Sonic sat and offered him a cup of tea. Sonic accepted it gratefully.

They sat in silence.

"You seem distressed," Was the first thing to leave Shadow's mouth, after nearly half an hour.

Sonic could only raise a brow in question.

"You aren't talking," Shadow stated, matter-of-fact, "You're barely moving, and it took you fifteen minutes to drink your tea." There was a brief pause, and then, less sure, "And your eyes seem duller than normal. Almost glazed."

Sonic quietly watched him for a moment. He'd noticed all that? It wasn't surprising―Shadow was observant. He was _supposed_ to be observant. Still, it was unusual. Most people wouldn't have picked up on that, or wouldn't have cared enough to point it out. And Shadow clearly cared. Sonic could tell.

There was the slight downward tilt of his lips, minute narrowing of his eyes, stiff set of his jaw… His eyes were bright, but not with any kind of excitement. It was all concern.

Finally, Sonic sighed out a laugh.

"I feel like crap," He said, simply.

Shadow's concern didn't fade, and Sonic hadn't expected it to.

There was another brief silence, and he could see the gears turning in Shadow's head. He was trying to figure out what to say, if he could help. If there was anything at all that could be done. If Sonic just needed to go to bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, again slow and almost unsure.

"No."

"Okay," And Shadow just accepted it. Didn't try to force it out of him or press any harder. "Let me know if you change your mind."

Sonic watched him for a moment. Thought about the offer, about telling him all of this. About spilling years worth of frustration and exhaustion. Giving Shadow the in-depth sob story that was his life, from the start of his memory up to now, telling the _truth_ about _everything_ for the first time _ever._

He thought about it, and he recoiled almost bodily from it.

No.

It needed to stay where it was. No one else should have to deal with his issues.

He could power through it.

That was his _job._

"I will," He said, anyway.

And it wasn't a lie―not really. Shadow was only asking that he let him know if he ever decided he _did_ want to talk about it. He could promise that.

He didn't have to change his mind.

That was a relief, really.

"Are you coming to bed?" Shadow asked, some time later.

Sonic nodded, standing and quietly following him into the bedroom.

They curled together on the bed after a few moments to get ready, and Shadow didn't really say anything when he pulled Sonic's face closer, burying it into his chest. Sonic tensed, halfway, then relaxed. Hesitated. Nuzzled closer.

Shadow wrapped him up in his arms, tangled their legs together, and Sonic felt… Safe.

And if he started crying, Shadow didn't respond and it was no one else's business.


End file.
